China's services consumption market gains momentum
Wang Quanzhong, director of the NBS Department of Trade and External Economic Relations Statistics, said the combined effects of various policies to boost consumption have continued to take hold this year, driving further expansion of the consumer market and strong growth in service retail.
China's services sector is experiencing robust growth, with retail sales of services rising 5.3% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, outpacing the 4.2% growth in retail sales of goods. This shift in consumer spending patterns is driven by various policies aimed at boosting consumption and promoting a balanced focus on both goods and services.
The retail sector, particularly communication and information services, has shown resilience, with communication and information services maintaining rapid growth and tourism-related consulting and rental services, as well as cultural and recreational services, recording double-digit growth, up 11.3% and 10.4%, respectively. In early July, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism launched a nationwide summer holiday cultural and tourism consumption campaign, providing over 450 million yuan in subsidies to cater to popular interests such as summer getaways and parent-child study tours.
Online service retail sales increased by 6% year-on-year, with livestreaming e-commerce sales exceeding 1 trillion yuan, up 6.5%. Retail businesses are embracing digital transformation to cater to diverse consumer needs, and new forms of consumption, such as immersive and experiential activities, are gaining traction in the cultural and tourism sectors. Inbound travel has also remained strong, with China recording 17.82 million inbound trips under visa-free entry policies, up 30.6% year-on-year.
The steady performance of the service sector is indicative of China's broader economic growth, with the sector's added value reaching 41.4 trillion yuan, up 5.2% year-on-year, half a percentage point faster than overall economic growth. China continues to open up its service sector, promoting deeper integration in key areas such as tourism, transportation, finance, and telecommunications, resulting in a narrowing service trade deficit.
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